Lost in Darkness
by Gwydion
Summary: COMPLETE! Tai is suffering from the worst disease: boredom. But when a trip to the Digital World promises a little more adventure than he bargained for, Tai isn't sure what's worse: finding out that Agumon is missing or trying to find him with Davis.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon and I'm glad because I so would have ruined it somehow... not that I'm 100% pleased with how everything went, but hey, no one's perfect, ne?  
  
"Man, why do these things always happen to me?"  
  
Tai sighed as he rested his head on his hand. He glanced around from the park bench he sat on, waiting for something to happen. Anything, actually. It wasn't as if it were a dull day, in fact, the weather couldn't have been nicer. The sky was blue and cloudless, and a slight breeze tugged at his t-shirt and shorts. The trees scattered around the park made for the perfect shade. Not to mention the flowers were in full bloom, creating a sea of pink and yellow. But despite all of this, he still had one problem.  
  
Tai Kamiya was bored.  
  
"Let's see. Matt's rehearsing with his band. Again. Sora has tennis practice. Izzy is helping Yolei fix Cody's computer. Joe is taking a test. Kari is out shopping with TK, poor guy. Mimi's in America, but even if she were here she'd probably make me take her shopping if I said I was bored. Then I'd be in the same boat as TK." At that thought, Tai shuddered. "Hm, well, who's left? I don't know Ken very well. Besides, he'd probably bore me even more than shopping would. He talks less then my cat. And that's it, isn't it? Who else is there? I know there's someone I keep forgetting about but who-"  
  
"Hey Tai!! Wow, I didn't expect to see you here!"  
  
Tai flinched. That's who he had forgotten. He slowly turned to the person who was now waving frantically in his direction.  
  
"Oh, er, hi, Davis," he replied, barely raising his hand and forcing a smile on his face. Tai sighed for what must have been the tenth time that afternoon as the goggle wearing boy ran up to him. It wasn't that he didn't like Davis. In fact, in a way he was kind of flattered at how the younger boy seemed to idolize him. He did everything he had done from playing soccer to wearing his trademark goggles.  
  
'Sometimes I wish I hadn't given him my goggles,' Tai thought, 'It almost feels like by doing that I gave him permission to be like me.'  
  
"Tai, what's up?" said Davis, grinning broadly, "I haven't seen you in a while. Whatcha doin'? It's such a nice day, isn't it? Why on earth would you just want to sit around on a day like today? Hey, I know!! You can hang out with me! 'Cause I KNOW that you were hoping I'd say that!" Davis' smile grew even larger as he stood in front of Tai.  
  
Realizing this was not a request, the older boy looked up. "Sure, fine. So what's the plan, genius?" As much as Tai wanted something to do, he wasn't sure he wanted to hang out with the hyperactive, miniture version of himself.  
  
Davis thought for a moment. "Hey, I know! We could get a bunch of people together and have a soccer match!"  
  
Tai shook his head. "Sorry, everyone's busy today. Well, except Mimi, but she's not exactly available. And I'm not sure what Ken's doing, but... Hey, that's right. Don't you usually hang out with him?"  
  
"Yeah, I do. But Ken said he was going to spend some time with his family today. Besides, two on one wouldn't really work out in soccer, huh?" Davis replied.  
  
"You don't think so?" Tai asked as he leaned back on the bench, a smirk on his face. "I think you'd need some help against a star player like me. But don't sweat it. Not EVERYONE can be as good as I am."  
  
"Oh yeah, hot shot? If you're so great, then how come the last time we all played, your team lost?" the younger boy returned, an identical smirk forming on his face. Tai's began to look more like a frown.  
  
"I just wasn't playing as hard that day, that's all," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, this is getting us no where. Any other bright ideas?"  
  
Davis quickly went back to thinking. After a minute of him just standing there, Tai was about to get up and leave, when suddenly the other boy's eyes lit up.  
  
"I got it! There's nothing to do here, so how about we take a trip to the Digital World? I'd need to wake Chibimon up, but..." Tai instantly sat up, not hearing the rest of what Davis was going on about. The Digital World. He hadn't been there in a while, due to the fact that whenever he wanted to, he needed the help of one of the new Digidestined and their new Digivices. He had finally gotten used to the idea that he was no longer the leader and that he could not see Agumon whenever he wanted. But at the mention of the strange world, he realized just how much he missed his partner.  
  
"...find a mouse in our house, and that he'd chase it all night? I'm surprised I got any sleep, but he sure-" Tai stood up and put a hand on the younger boy's shoulder to silence him. With a smile, he looked at Davis and said "Well, what are we waiting for?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, right! Let's go!" cried Davis as he took off at a run for his home.  
  
"Hey, wait up!"  
  
***  
  
"So, Davis? What exactly are we doing here again?" Veemon asked as they wandered through one of the dense forests of the Digiworld.  
  
"Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I made the suggestion to Tai, and he seemed really excited about it, so, yeah. We're here," said the digimon's partner with a shrug.  
  
Tai wasn't listening as he carefully studied his Digivice. A small blip on the screen showed that his partner was not far off. He smiled as he pictured what Agumon's face would look like when he realized he had come to see him. 'At first he would look confused, then surprised, and finally he-' "Huh?"  
  
"Tai? What is it? What's wrong?" Davis asked when he noticed the older was no longer walking and had a frown on his face. He was staring intently at his Digivice, as if waiting for something. But Tai didn't hear the boy's questions as some of his own were running around his head.  
  
"I don't understand," he said quietly, and Davis leaned in closer to hear him better. "What happened? Why did the dot just disappear like that? He... he couldn't be hurt, could he? But what if something happened to him? What if..." Tai suddenly looked up in the direction the blip had been in. He narrowed his eyes. 'If anybody hurt him...' With that, he quickly took off, running as fast as he could further into the forest.  
  
"Hey, Tai! Wait a second! What's going on?" yelled Davis as he instantly followed after the older boy, Veemon right beside him.  
  
"Davis, why's Tai in such a hurry?" the blue digimon asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think something happened to Agumon," he replied, his face grim, "And if that's the case, then whoever did it will soon regret it!" His partner nodded his full agreement.  
  
Up ahead, Tai panted as he raced through the trees. 'Agumon, whatever it is, please be ok. I'm coming! Just hold on!'  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Good? Bad? Scary beyond all reason? Or not, but anyways, let me know what you think. Also, any mistakes you may find, I'd appriciate it if you'd point them out. I already had to go back and edit some things due to my stupidity (I mean, when you forget that Mimi is in America, it's pretty bad ^_^;;). Comments are nice and criticism is welcome. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
  
"Tai! Tai!! Wait for me! What happened to Agumon!?" screamed Davis as he and his digimon partner crashed through the dense forest. The older boy either didn't hear his cries or he was simply ignoring them. Either way, if Davis wasn't careful, he would soon lose sight of him. And if Agumon's signal could suddenly just disappear from Tai's Digivice, he was sure that the same could be true if he tried to pick up Tai's.  
  
'There's gotta be something out there,' thought the younger boy to himself, 'And if that something hurts any of my friends, it'll pay big time!'  
  
Davis let out a sigh of relief as he noticed Tai stop not too far ahead of him. When he finally reached him, he could clearly see the look of confusion on the other Digidestined's face. Only this time he wasn't looking at his digivice, but straight ahead.  
  
Following his gaze, it was Davis' turn to be confused. "What are you staring at, Tai?" he asked, "I don't see anything over there except more trees, a couple of rocks and a big black hole...? Wait a minute! How'd that get there?" Not far ahead of them, hanging in mid-air was a dark oval-shaped opening of sorts. It looked almost like a gateway into outer space, only there were no stars or planets. There was merely darkness.  
  
"Davis, what is that? I've never seen anything like it," said Veemon.  
  
The digimon's partner shrugged. "I have no idea. You're the one that lives here, not me. Let's go check it out! Maybe Agumon's in there!" At that, the young goggle head made his way towards the strange hole.  
  
Tai frowned. This was where Agumon should have been. He knew that this black thing must have somehow been behind whatever happened to his partner, but he hadn't a clue as to just what it was or how it accomplished it. But what if Davis was right? What if Agumon could somehow go into the hole? What if it somehow transported him to somewhere far away? That would explain what happened to the signal on his digivice, at least.  
  
'But why would Agumon go near that thing? They usually try to contact us or at least Gennai if something weird happens. Why would he try to find out what it was on his own?' Tai thought to himself. As he continued to guess at his partners possible motives, Davis' voice interrupted his thoughts.  
  
"Hey, is it just me, or is the wind really starting to pick up?"  
  
'Oh no! That's it!' thought Tai frantically as he ran towards the younger boy. "Davis, get away from there! That's not the wind! That thing, or whatever it is, is going to suck you in!"  
  
"Huh?" said Davis as he tried to turn around, only to find that the hole was indeed pulling him toward it. Panicking, he attempted to make a run for it, but instead he felt his feet being swept out from under him.  
  
"Davis!" cried Tai as he stretched his left arm out, reaching for the other boy's hand, while his right arm gripped a nearby tree. Davis managed to grab hold before it was too late, but the extra weight was greater than Tai had anticipated. The vacuum was making it seem like he was trying to hold onto ten Davis'. The older boy grimaced as the tree scraped against his arm. His grip wouldn't last long.  
  
"Hang on, Davis! I'm coming!" cried Veemon, "Veemon digivolve to... XV-mon!"  
  
Being careful not to be sucked in himself, the champion digimon made his way towards the two boys, holding onto the trees as he went.  
  
"Hurry, XV-mon! I can't hold on much longer!" shouted Davis, his feet inches away from the opening.  
  
"Davis, whatever you do, don't let go of me, okay?" said Tai between clenched teeth. He had made up his mind that he would not let go of his friend, but his other hand was hurting quite a bit. He looked up at XV-mon. Luckily he wasn't too far away. 'Another few steps, and we'll be fine!' he told himself.  
  
But just as the digimon reached out to grab ahold of him, Tai felt his fingers slip. With a cry he let go of the tree, and the two boys were pulled towards the opening.  
  
"Davis! Tai!" cried XV-mon as he tried to reach them before they were sucked in. But all he could do was watch as the two boys were pulled into the darkness.  
  
***  
  
"Owwwww, my head! It feels like I was thrown in a gigantic clothes dryer!" Davis complained, grabbing his head, "I can't remember ever having a headache this bad before."  
  
"Just be glad we're still alive."  
  
"Yeah, but, where are we? Ya know, Tai, I don't think we're in Digiworld anymore."  
  
Tai groaned, partly because of the pain in his arm, and partly due to Davis. He tried to look around, but the area was too dark to see much of anything. He could just barely make out the form of his friend a few feet away from where he sat. And the ground he was sitting on wasn't at all like the lush forest grass he had just been in. Instead it was hard and rough like tightly packed rocks.  
  
"Hey, Tai?" Davis called out. The older boy heard the younger stand up in an attempt to find him. "Can you see Veemon? Well, probably not since it's so dark, but I can't seem to find him anywhere. Do you think maybe he got away?"  
  
"I hope so. Then maybe he'll try to get a hold of the other Digidestined so they can help us get out of here. This black hole stuff is really more Izzy's field than mine," he replied. "Oww, watch it! You kicked me in the back!"  
  
Davis sat down next to him. "Sorry, I can't really see you very well. So, what now? We can't just sit here and wait for them. That could take forever!"  
  
Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out his digivice, holding it up so that Davis could see the flashing light.  
  
"Hey! It's Agumon! His bleep is blipping again! Or is it 'his blip is bleeping again'...?"  
  
"While we're here, we're going to find Agumon," stated Tai. At that, he stood up and reached his hand out to the younger boy. "Come on, you better hold onto me so we don't get separated."  
  
"What?" cried Davis, "I don't want to hold your hand!"  
  
"What do you want me to do? Pull you by your goggles?"  
  
"But it makes me seem like I'm just a little kid that can't even cross the street by himself! I will have you know that I have been old enough to do that for a long time now! Sure, my mom still doesn't really believe that sometimes, but that's not the point! And besides, I can see you just fine!" Davis pouted.  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yes, really!"  
  
"Is that so?"  
  
"Yes, that's so!"  
  
"Then how come you aren't following me?"  
  
Davis blinked and looked around, trying to locate the older boy. "Uh, hey, Tai? Where'd you go?"  
  
Tai sighed as he held up his flashing digivice in the other boy's direction. He at last saw Davis' form come back into view.  
  
"So, um, where exactly is your hand?"  
  
When they at last found each other's arm, Davis having managed to hit Tai's injured arm countless times in the process, the two set off in the right direction.  
  
"Hey, Tai? Are you sure you couldn't just let me lead? Then all you would have to do was put your arm on my shoulder or head or something while I walk ahead. I mean, I am the new leader, you know, you even said so, remember? You gave me these goggles to show..."  
  
Tai sighed heavily once again. This was going to be a very long journey.  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Hey! I just wanted you to know that I have nothing against Davis! Honest! I think he's cool, as far as the 02 season goes, but Tai is supposedly "older and more mature" now, so Davis is my main source of humor. But I think I'm having a hard time with Tai... He doesn't seem himself, though I suppose if your digimon is missing you might be a little "not normal" too, I guess. Anyway, review if you have anything at all to say. 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Heh, to the 4 people that actually read this, thanx for your comments (And Rue no Hime, I totally forgot about that! Good point... I'm not sure if Tai gets any better, but I hope so. ^_^;;). Oh, and I'll try to update more often since the chapters are so short... And yes, there will be a point to this story. It's Humor/Action because it starts out "funny" (or so I tell myself) but later it sorta starts to lose that as the "action" aspect comes into play. I'll shut up now...  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I know you're all so sad.  
  
"Hey, Tai? How much farther?"  
  
"Look, Davis, for the last time, I'm not sure. We're getting there, ok?"  
  
"Oh, ok."  
  
The older boy stared at the Digivice in his hand. The flashing light was getting closer which meant Agumon at least wasn't walking away from where they were. He was still having a hard time figuring out just why it was taking them so long to reach it. They should have been there by now, whereever there was. It was causing his patience to wear thin. That and Davis' constant babbling, of course.  
  
'He hasn't said anything for a full thirty seconds,' Tai thought to himself, 'That must be some kind of personal record or something.'  
  
"Hey, Tai?"  
  
'I knew it couldn't last,' the other boy thought with a sigh. "What, Davis?"  
  
"Do you really think the others will find us? I mean, what if they just get sucked in too, and there's no way out of this place? What if more of us just kept getting stuck in here until finally all of us Digidestined were trapped for the rest of our lives, forced to wander aimlessly in darkness while the evil digimon realize what happened and decide to conquer both worlds, making our parents and teachers their slaves to serve on them hand and foot, or claw and tooth, or fin and whatever else-"  
  
"I get the idea already! Sheesh, what an imagination! You watch to many corny made for TV movies," Tai interrupted, not sure just how much more insanity he could endure. "The other Digidestined will be fine, don't worry, and I'm sure they'll find us and get of out of this place."  
  
"Oh, ok."  
  
Tai once again focused all of his attention on following the blinking light, determined not to let Davis get to him. 'Fat chance.'  
  
"Hey, Tai?"  
  
"WHAT, Davis?"  
  
"Oh wait, nevermind. It's nothing."  
  
"..."  
  
"Hey, Tai?"  
  
"WHAT IS IT, DA-" But the older boy didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as he walked straight into a hard, rough wall hidden in the shadows.  
  
"There's a wall there."  
  
Tai rubbed his forehead. He'd been so focused on the digivice that he hadn't noticed it. Until now, that is. "Thanks for the warning."  
  
"Anytime!" replied the younger boy with a huge grin. "So, what now? I can't tell if there are any doors, it's too dark."  
  
"Well," began Tai as he looked up, "I can't tell how high it goes, so it's probably too high to climb over. It looks like we either go around or find some sort of door." Carefully, he reached out his hand and touched the wall. It just felt like a continuation of the ground leading to the sky. "I wonder what this is. I mean, is it just a wall? Or is it some kind of building?"  
  
"I know!" shouted Davis, "I'll bet it's a giant fortress, home to an evil digimon just waiting for kids like us to come along so he can enslave us and make us all trim his claws or something! I'll bet he's holding Agumon hostage, and this is all just one big trap to make us come to him!"  
  
"Hey, what is with you and evil digimon turning us all into slaves?" asked Tai, exasperated. "Besides, weren't you the one that said 'we aren't in Digiworld anymore'? What makes you think there are even digimon here? Well, besides Agumon, anyway."  
  
"There are digimon on earth, aren't there?" said the younger boy, a triumphant smirk on his face.  
  
Tai opened his mouth to reply, shut it again, thinking, and finally replied with, "Yeah, well, that's different." He knew Davis did have a point, but he wasn't about to admit to it. "Besides, in the past it's been digimon trying to conquer earth, like Myotismon or something. Who'd wanna rule this place?' he thought to himself.  
  
"WHAT!?" cried Davis, "How is it different!? You know that-"  
  
"Ok, ok! Fine! Now put your hand against the wall and follow it until you either find a door or the end, ok? Sheesh, don't you ever stop talking to breathe at least?" asked the older boy, holding his head. Between being sucked into the black hole, running into the wall, and Davis' mouth, he was starting to get the worst headache of his life.  
  
"Alright! How about I go this way and I'll holler if I see, er, feel anything," said the younger, as he placed his hand on the wall and began walking away from Tai.  
  
'Finally!' thought Tai as he began heading in the opposite direction. As he ran his hand along the wall, he used the available quiet time to think. 'What is this wall thing doing here? What if Davis was right and it is some kind of fortress? If that's the case, then Agumon is probably inside it somewhere. His signal hasn't moved for a while now. That means he's either sleeping, eating, being held hostage, or he's hurt.' At the last idea, Tai shook his head. "No! I won't think like that! Agumon's a fighter! He wouldn't let someone just push him around. Maybe he is captured, but he can hold his own, even at the rookie level. Now all we have to do is find him and-"  
  
There was a deep rumbling noise coming from the direction Davis had gone followed by a loud "Ahhhh!!"  
  
"Davis! What is it!? What happened!?" shouted Tai as he quickly turned and ran towards where the commotion had come from, making sure to keep his hand on the wall at all times. Davis must have found something, and he wanted to be sure he found it. 'At least, I think I do, anyway,' he thought grimly.  
  
"Davis! Davis, where are you?" he called, slowing his pace. He shouldn't have been too far away yet. "Where did he go? I wonder what that weird noise was, and what made Davis scream like that. Aww, man, he's gotta be around here somewhe-ahhhh!"  
  
With a sound of rock rubbing against rock, Tai felt the wall beneath his hand give way, and he soon found himself being pushed into a dimly lit hallway. He lay there sprawled across the floor as the wall closed behind him.  
  
"There's a revolving door there."  
  
Tai looked up at Davis who was smirking down at him, obviously enjoying the fact that he had a chance to witness him screaming like a girl and falling flat on his face.  
  
"Thanks, Davis. Thanks."  
  
The older boy looked around him. The hallway they landed in was lit by torches that lined the walls that stretched out to the left and right. He looked down at his digivice again.  
  
"So which way now?" asked the younger boy as he offered his hand to Tai.  
  
Taking it, he stood and answered, "Well, the signal is coming more from the left so we'll head that way. Hopefully this isn't a maze of some kind."  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" cried Davis and he began heading left. Tai followed close behind him. He could see better now, but he wanted them to stick together in case there were anymore trap doors.  
  
"Hey, Tai?"  
  
"What, Davis?"  
  
"Do you think Kari will come looking for me? Well, I mean, I KNOW she'll come, but do you think she'll be really worried about me? Think about it, we're trapped in an unknown world completely covered in darkness, and we're wandering around a really creepy fortress that could be home to all sorts of who knows what, but I'll bet they have sharp teeth and drink blood or something, at least. And if I were me, I'd be worried! No wait, if I were her I'd be worried. So what do ya think? I mean, you are her older brother. Do you think she's really worried about me? Huh?"  
  
'I hope we find Agumon REALLY soon...'  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Heh, I had fun with that chapter. Davis is highly amusing me in this story. And that's good. I like to be amused. ^_^ Like it? Hate it? Ready for me to just get on with it? 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: First off, some things I felt I had to say:  
  
Dukect45 ~ As far as your title goes, I would use it, but that's actually a rather small element in the story. ^_^;; Them searching for poor Agumon does set things in motion, but... you'll have to wait and see what awaits our "heroes". ^_~ Thanx for the idea though! If you get any more, let me know! (That goes for anybody!)  
  
Eddie Wachowski's Chick ~ Hehehe, funny story! Poor "Tai" though. ^_^;;  
  
Rae1 ~ Haha, Davis is my favorite to write. He's so cute and funny. I'm happy you like him! Enjoy this chapter!  
  
Rue no Hime ~ Glad you like it! ^_^ And thanx for reviewing every chapter!  
  
And now on to the fic...  
  
Disclaimer: I shall never, ever own Digimon or any of it's characters.  
  
"Argh! Why haven't we found him yet!?"  
  
"Dude, I'm sure he's fine, so take it easy. It can't be too much farther. Well, I hope, anyway. My feet are killing me. But seriously, Tai, you mentioned my complaining? You should listen to yourself!"  
  
"Davis, I do NOT want to be lectured by YOU, of all people. If it weren't for YOU, we wouldn't even-"  
  
"Shhhh! You hear that?" Davis quickly turned to look down the side hallway they had just passed.  
  
"Did you hear Agumon?" whispered Tai excitedly. He stared past the other boy into the dimly lit hallway. There didn't seem to be anything there except the occasional torch. The older boy frowned. "Are you sure you heard something?"  
  
"I'm postive!" Davis insisted, "It sounded almost like a bird or something."  
  
Tai looked at him strangely. "A bird? In this place? What was it doing, asking you to put it out of it's misery?"  
  
"No, not that kind of noise. It sounded like wings flapping," the younger boy replied, his gaze not moving.  
  
Tai sighed. "Well, whatever it was, it's gone now. Let's keep going."  
  
But Davis wasn't moving. He was sure he heard something flying around back there, and he wanted to know what. Without warning, he took off running down the corridor.  
  
"Davis! What are you doing!?" cried Tai.  
  
"Don't worry about me!" Davis shouted over his shoulder with a smile, "You keep looking for Agumon! I'm going to find what made that noise, then I'll catch up with you using my digivice! See ya later if I don't get eaten first!" With that, he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.  
  
"Gahh! Now what do I do?" Tai shouted to no one as he pulled at his mess of hair. "Well, I have two options. I can run after Davis because I know he's going to get into trouble like he always does or I can keep following Agumon's signal on my digivice." He sighed. He knew Davis had a point. He could always find him using his own digivice. And, for the moment, Tai knew he was fine whereas with Agumon he had no idea what his condition was.  
  
"Alright," he said at last, turning back the way they were originally headed, his mind made up. Not wanting to waste any more time, he quickened his pace as he made his way toward the blinking light.  
  
"Now all I can do is hope that Davis doesn't get sucked into another black hole..."  
  
***  
  
"Hmm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." said Davis as he looked at the dead end in front of him.  
  
"Now that's funny, 'cause I know I heard something flying this way." He looked all around, searching for some sort of opening. "I know there isn't another moving wall door thing; I didn't hear any other noise. So where did it go?"  
  
After staring at the wall for a good 30 seconds, Davis got fed up.  
  
"Argh, I'll never find it!" he screamed as he banged his head against the wall. Or at least, as he tried to. To his surprise, instead of hitting it, he fell right through it, hitting his head on the ground instead.  
  
"Owww! Who moved the wall?" He looked up and blinked. He was no longer in a corridor but a large hall. He stood up, staring at his sudden change in surroundings. Tall pillars loomed above him, but besides that, the room was bare. No windows, no doors, nothing.  
  
"Geez, whoever lives here really needs to hire a new decorator," he said to no one, his voice echoing around him.  
  
"Boy..."  
  
Davis jumped upon hearing the sound. "W-who's there! Show yourself!" he cried, frantically looking around.  
  
At last he spotted a humanoid figure sitting in the far right corner of the hall. Curious, he walked closer to get a better look. He noticed that whoever it was didn't look so good. The figure was sort of slumped over and his breathing seemed a little forced. The face was mostly covered with the hood of the ragged cloak it wore and a strange eye mask.  
  
"What happened to you? You look terrible," said Davis, "Did you get sucked in here too?"  
  
The figure raised it's head ever so slightly. "Yes," replied an obviously male voice, "But it's been so long, I can't clearly remember what happened. All I remember is a bright light before this terrible darkness."  
  
"A bright light, huh?" Davis repeated, "That sounds kind of fishy if you ask me. Isn't that what people usually see right before they-" As the thought hit the boy, he panicked. "No! It can't be! I can't be dead! I didn't see any bright light! I was always warned to stay away from it if I did, but no one said anything about big black holes! This can't be!!"  
  
"You're not dead," replied the man.  
  
"Huh? How do you know?"  
  
"Because I am not dead. Though I might as well be. Here, one doesn't eat or sleep. It is never day, only night. And..." he looked straight into Davis' eyes, "...one never leaves this place once they have found it."  
  
For a second, the boy looked uneasy. But his face suddenly lit up. "Hey, no sweat! I have friends on the outside that know where I am! Well, maybe not EXACTLY where I am, but close enough. And not to brag or anything, but there's nothing they can't do! Ken is a genius, and when it comes to figuring out this type of stuff, Yolei and Izzy make a great team!"  
  
The man's eyes narrowed. "Izzy...?"  
  
Davis grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that's a name of a friend of mine. I still don't know how in the world he got that kind of a name, though. I've been meaning to ask him."  
  
"Ah, I see," he replied, closing his eyes.  
  
The young boy looked down, a worried look on his face. "Ya know, you really don't look so good. Do you think you'll be okay?"  
  
"I will be fine. But would you just stay here with me for a while?" he said, looking up at the boy.  
  
"Hey, no problem," said Davis, immidiately sitting with his back against a nearby pillar. "A friend of mine is here too, but he's looking for another really close friend of his. I'm sure once he finds him he'll come looking for me."  
  
"What's your friend's name?"  
  
"Who? Tai? Oh, yeah. His name is, well, Tai. He's really cool, but I think he thinks I talk too much. All I was trying to do was keep myself interested so I didn't fall asleep as we walked through the darkness outside of this place. Which, do you realize how boring that is? I mean, it's just so DARK. You can't see anything out there. But somehow I don't think there would be anything to see anyway. I mean, we didn't run into anything, except this building. No plants, animals, monsters, man-eating bugs..."  
  
Davis continued to babble on, not noticing the man's eyes narrowing once again.  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Heh, looks like Davis found someone else to annoy for a while. We'll see what happens with that later, ne? I am so glad I thought of this. This wasn't in the original idea, but it really helps move the story along. This one wasn't as amusing in my opinion, but it was actually stuff important to the story. Wow, what a concept. Let me know what you thought! 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Must I say this again? Hmm, guess so. Nope, I don't own Digimon. Still.  
  
*Ring! Ring!*  
  
"Hello, Ishida residence."  
  
"Hi Matt!" the girl on the other end practically screamed, "This is Jun! I was just wondering if you were free tomorrow, because I am, and I thought we could spend the day together, ya know? I mean, you're always so busy practicing with your band and such that I thought it'd be nice if just the two of us could get away for awhile! Ya know, somewhere we can be ALONE and maybe TALK and-"  
  
"Uhh, sorry, Jun," replied the boy, quickly thinking of an excuse to get off the phone, "My band is practicing ALL day tomorrow because, uh, we have a really big performance coming up, so I can't miss it." 'It's a good thing I'm on the phone so she can't tell that I'm lying,' thought Matt. 'At least, I hope not.'  
  
"Oh." There was a short pause on the other end before she cheerfully asked him where he was performing.  
  
'Crap.' "Um, well, it's, uh, really far away."  
  
"How far?"  
  
"New York."  
  
"REALLY?? Wow!! That is so cool!! When is it? I'll have to fly over there to see you!"  
  
"Uhh, it's..." Matt glanced at his calendar and noticed a random date was circled. "It's in four days."  
  
"Oh no!! I have to get ready to go now! I'll never be ready in time! Bye Matt! I gotta go pack! See you in America!" With that, the crazed fangirl hung up.  
  
The boy sighed in relief as he put the phone down. He knew that Jun really would go to New York if she thought he was there. He tried not to laugh as he thought of her running around the Big Apple looking for him, though he did feel a little guilty. But only a little. He looked back at the calendar, a confused look on his face.  
  
"But why on earth would Dad circle that date and write 'Happy Buffalos' on it?" He shrugged and was about to open the fridge when the phone rang again.  
  
"Don't tell me she's figured it out already," he moaned as he picked up the receiver and tentitively said, "Hello?"  
  
"Matt? Are you alright? You sound nervous about something."  
  
He quietly let out the breath he'd been holding. "Naw, I'm alright. What's up, Kari? You done taking TK shopping already?"  
  
The girl giggled. "Well, I went easy on him and said we could leave. I have a feeling he'll be seeing pink dresses in his sleep tonight."  
  
The older boy laughed. He knew his little brother didn't really like shopping much, but if it had to do with Kari, he wouldn't miss it. "So what is it you wanted? I have a feeling you didn't just call to tell me about the new dress you bought."  
  
"Well, I was wondering if Tai was with you."  
  
Matt frowned. "Sorry, I just got back from band practice. I haven't seen him all day. Why? Is something wrong?"  
  
Kari paused before answering. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just that Mom said he went out a while ago complaining that he was bored, and he never came back. I know he's old enough to take care of himself, but I just have this feeling that something happened to him."  
  
"It is getting pretty late," he replied, glancing at the clock, "Do you know where he went?"  
  
"Mom said that he went to the park, but I looked all around and he just wasn't there. Then I thought maybe he went to visit you..."  
  
"Ok. Listen, I'm sure Tai's fine. But if he doesn't show up in another hour or so, call me back, alright?" Matt wasn't sure what good he would be, but if his best friend was missing, he couldn't just sit there, even if it meant searching the city for him.  
  
"Alright. I'll be sure to call you if he's not here by then. Thanks, Matt."  
  
"No problem," he said with a smile.  
  
But as they said their good-byes and hung up, he couldn't help thinking about what Kari had just told him. The girl's hunches were usually right, especially when it came to Tai. 'I wonder where he could be?' he thought to himself, 'It's not like Tai to just disappear like that.'  
  
As he tried to think of places his friend would have gone to, his phone rang. Again. Irritated, he picked up the phone. "Yes?"  
  
"Matt! I'm glad I got ahold of you!" said Izzy, "I need you to head over to the Kamiya's right away. I've tried contacting Kari, but her phone's busy. Something happened to Tai and Davis in the Digital World!"  
  
"What? What happened?" 'So that's where he went...'  
  
"Get Kari and meet me at the park. I'll explain everything then. But right now I've got to contact the rest of the Digidestined," said Izzy hurriedly.  
  
"Ok, we'll be right there."  
  
Without so much as a good-bye, Matt grabbed his coat and ran out the door.  
  
***  
  
A few long minutes later, TK had his arm around Kari who was nervously looking at Izzy, waiting for answers, their digimon in their laps. Matt scanned the group and noticed that everyone was finally accounted for.  
  
"So what happened, Izzy?" he said, breaking the silence.  
  
The boy opened his laptop and began typing. Not looking up, he said, "Earlier today, I was helping Yolei fix Cody's computer. It took a while, but when we finally got it working properly, we pulled up the gate that leads to the Digital World. But as I looked at it closer, I noticed there was something wrong." At that, Izzy turned his computer around so the others could see what he was looking at. Ken was the first to notice the small black dots on the screen.  
  
"What are those spots?" he asked.  
  
"Those black spots are actually tears in the Digital World itself," Izzy explained, "The tears act like small but powerful vacuums that pull anything, or anyone, that gets near them into a different world."  
  
"A different world?" said TK, "Is it the world of wishes we followed Oikawa to before?"  
  
The other boy shook his head. "As far as I can tell, this is a whole new world."  
  
"Did Tai get pulled there?" asked Kari, worried.  
  
"And Davis too?" Ken added.  
  
Izzy nodded. "Along with the spots, I also picked up a signal that seemed to be coming from one of our digimon. When Yolei, Cody, and I went to investigate, we found Veemon, but Davis wasn't in the area. He told us that he and Tai were tracking Agumon on their digivices when his signal vanished. They then found one of the tears, but not knowing what it was, Davis got too close. Tai tried to help him, but managed to get pulled in as well."  
  
"That's Davis for you," said Yolei, shaking her head.  
  
"So, what now?" asked Sora, "How do we get them out if the tears are like vacuums? We would just be pulled in too."  
  
"I've been working on a solution, but it'll take more time. I wanted to let you all know what we had found, and I was hoping Ken would give me a hand," said Izzy, looking at the quiet boy.  
  
"Of course," he answered with a short nod.  
  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Joe.  
  
"No, not really. This may take a while, and the more people around the harder it will be to concentrate on the problem."  
  
"How about we make a phone chain so that everybody will be contacted when you do come up with something," suggested Matt.  
  
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. As the geniuses began talking quietly, the rest of the Digidestined wrote down the list, Kari's name at the top. When they had done all they could, everyone went their separate ways, TK walking Kari home. Matt shoved the paper in his pocket and briskly headed home.  
  
'Always have to play the hero, don't you, Tai?' he thought wryly, 'You had better be alright or someone is seriously going to get it.'  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Hehe... Ok, I couldn't help myself (I'm a Matt fan). ^_^;; This is supposed to be a "Tai story" for my sis, but he just didn't make it in this chapter. Sorry, Sis! I know this one was focused on Matt, but he IS Tai's best friend. I was going to focus on Kari, but it wasn't working out as well (that and I REALLY don't like her). But never fear! Tai's chapter is next! Davis had his as did Matt. I just wanted to put off what was coming up, and I thought that it was a good oppertunity to show that, yes, Veemon did actually do something. Also, the next chapter is the start of the "action" section, which means the humor is tuned down. But more importantly it will either make people more interested or completely lose interest... But that's the next chapter. ^_^;; Let me know what you thought about this chapter, especially since it's so different from the rest.  
  
~ "Lost in Darkness" was suggested as a title for my fic (thanx Dukect for the suggestions ^_^). AFTER the next chapter (cuz it's the big turning point chapter where you find out just what the heck I am doing), let me know if it still fits. There's still over half of the fic left to write, so it fits this half, but I wanted to make sure people still thought it fit after... yeah. I'll ask for your input next chapter (cuz I hate picking titles...) so it would be appriciated then. ^_^ ~ 


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: To anyone who actually reads this... ^_^;; I'm really sorry about taking forever to update. My computer back home died about a week before coming back to school, and I didn't have access to my chapters. This one was already written and edited so I was waiting to post until I got it back. Well, we finally got the computer back... No joke, it took weeks. I have no idea what my dad did to it. _ So for those who like this story, I'm really sorry for my lack of updates. I will be updating more often though! Yeah! Ok, I'll get on with it now, lol.  
  
Disclaimer: Do I really have to say this every chapter? I'm doubting I really have to say it at all, but for whoever's sake this is for, I do not own Digimon.  
  
Tai glanced down briefly. Good, he was still headed in the right direction. And best of all, the blip on his digivice showed that he had almost reached his partner.   
  
"Finally," he said with a smile. He had been losing hope of ever finding Agumon when Davis left him. "I never realized just how much I'd miss hearing his mindless babble until he left. I mean, sure, it was kind of, well, very annoying, but at least he kept me company. Now the only thing to do is listen to myself talk. How pathetic is that?"   
  
"That is pretty pathetic, Tai."   
  
The digidestined's eyes went wide. He frantically ran to the end of the hallway and looked to his left, a large smile appearing on his face.   
  
"Agumon!" he cried as he ran up to his partner. Well, as close as he could get to him, anyway. Cold, metal bars kept him from reaching his friend. "What happened? Are you alright? Who put you in here? Whoever he is, I'll make him sorry he ever messed with one of the Digidestined!"   
  
The yellow digimon smiled, but it soon faded as he began to answer Tai's questions. "To be honest, I have no idea how I got in here. I was just wandering around the Digiworld when I came across a strange black oval hanging just off the ground. When I got closer to find out what it was, it sucked me into it, and I'm guessing that's how you got here." Tai nodded and waited for his partner to continue. "I suddenly appeared in this world, and I decided to try to look around. The only thing was that it was so dark out there that I couldn't see anything. And that's when I was attacked. I tried to fight whoever it was, but they just ended up knocking me out and bringing me here. When I woke up, I was in this cage."   
  
Tai frowned. "Well, at least we know for sure that we aren't alone, though that's apparently a bad thing. This place seemed so empty that I didn't believe Davis when he said he thought he heard something."   
  
"Davis is here too?" asked Agumon, "Why isn't he with you?"   
  
"He told me to keep following your signal while he checked out the noise he heard," the boy explained, "We had better find him and soon. If whatever got you is what he's chasing, he could be in a lot of trouble. I don't suppose you remember if you heard wings flapping when you were captured."   
  
"Come to think of it, I do remember hearing something like that," answered the digimon thoughtfully.   
  
"Great," mumbled Tai, "We gotta figure out a way to get you out of here. Davis is in trouble, and you're the only one..." The digidestined trailed off as he slowly turned around, listening.   
  
Coming closer was the unmistakable sound of something flying.   
  
"Tai, get out of here!" Agumon whispered harshly, "This space is too small for you to help me digivolve, and I don't want you to get caught."   
  
The boy shook his head instantly. "Not a chance, Agumon! I wanna find out just who did this to you and teach them a lesson! Besides, I took all that time looking for you, and I won't leave you when I've finally found you."   
  
Knowing it was hopeless, the digimon turned his attention back to their oncomer, ready to let his Pepper Breath fly if whoever it was so much as laid a finger on his partner. He didn't have long to wait before the creature came into veiw.   
  
'Wait a minute,' thought Tai, his eyes widening at the hideous sight before him. Hovering just a few feet off the ground was a small, grey creature. It was covered in fur with a small tuft of orange on the top of it's unusually large head. On it's back, two pairs of dull grey wings were beating slowly. It's claws were flexing as it studied the two with it's slanted red eyes, it's large, toothy mouth curled into an evil smile. 'That's a...'   
  
"It's a digimon!" exclaimed Agumon, readying himself for an attack.   
  
The digimon suddenly dove at Tai with a shriek, his claws outstreched. At the last second, the boy jumped out of the way, causing the creature to run headfirst into the bars of Agumon's prison. Shaking it's head, it let out a low hiss as it turned to stare at his prey. Tai watched it closely, preparing himself for the next attack when something around the creature's wrist caught his eye. Noticing that he was distracted, the digimon lunged at the digidestined.   
  
"Tai!" cried his partner.   
  
The boy hadn't been fast enough and now lay on the floor, the horrible creature pinning him down by his shoulders. He struggled to get free, but to no avail. The arm he had scraped on the tree was beginning to hurt again. If he didn't do something fast, he would be in serious trouble. The grey digimon laughed as he raised a clawed hand into the air. There, hanging from his arm was what had captured the boy's attention, a single silver key. With a cry, Tai used his free hand and with as much strength as he could gather, he punched the creature in the eye. With a hiss of pain, the creature raised his hands to grab his injured eye. Using the opportunity, Tai reached up and grabbed at the silver key.   
  
'Yes!' he thought as his hand closed on the small object. With a yank, he pulled the ring it was on off of the digimon's arm. Realising what had happened, the angry monster snarled and immidiately made a lunge for the hand that held the key. Moving his arm away, Tai used his free hand to shove the small creature off of him.   
  
"Agumon, now!" he cried as he ran away from the disoriented digimon.   
  
"Right! Pepper Breath!" shouted the little rookie as he released his attack. With one last cry, the grey digimon disolved into tiny bits of data.   
  
Tai sat on the floor, panting. "Man, remind me not to do that again!" he moaned as he stood up and walked back to his partner, rubbing his sore arm. "Let's hope this key works. When I saw it, I figured he must be some sort of guard." The boy put the key into the lock, turned it, and heard a soft click as the door swung open. "Alright!"   
  
Agumon hurried out of his cell and looked up at his partner. "Are you okay, Tai?" he asked, worried.   
  
His partner winked and gave him a thumbs up. "Hey, no one messes with my friends and gets away with it," he said with a smile, "I'm just glad I didn't get killed in the process."   
  
"Oh, Tai."   
  
His face suddenly turning serious, the digidestined searched his pocket for his digivice. As he pulled it out, he immidiately saw Davis' light flashing. It wasn't moving.   
  
"Come on! We have to hurry!" he shouted as he took off, running back the way he had come. Agumon hurried after him.   
  
'Why?' thought Tai, troubled, 'Why did that digimon look so familiar? And why do I have this nagging feeling that things are only going to get worse?'   
  
* * *  
  
"...giant killer slugs, aliens from another planet, man eating bugs, no wait, I said that one already. Hey, you okay?"   
  
Davis watched as the cloaked figure slowly rose to his feet. The man grinned down at the boy, but the digidestined had the feeling that it wasn't as pleasant as it had been a while ago.   
  
"Don't worry," the man said calmly, "I assure you, I am just perfect. Would you like to hear a story?"   
  
Davis blinked. "Uh, sure, why not?"   
  
"Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful digimon."   
  
A gasp from the back of the hall made the listening boy turn around quickly. There stood Tai and Agumon, looking in horror at the man in front of him. He looked back at the figure and saw him lift an arm to his hood.   
  
"He was supposed to rule over all of the Digital World, but some human brats banished him to a world of nothingness."   
  
The man lowered his hood. The mask Davis had seen was half black and half white with a small red heart above one of his eyes. Long, orange hair stood out straight from his head, and a cruel smile appeared on his blood red lips.   
  
"But one day he returned and took his rightful place as ruler. The end."   
  
Confused, the younger boy turned to the older. To his surprise, Tai's face had gone white. And as he stared at the masked man, Davis heard a single word escape his lips.   
  
"Piedmon..."   
  
to be continued...   
  
A/N: Heh, ok, I realize that most people will be like "What???? He's DEAD!" but I ran across an arguement a while back concerning Digimon Frontier. There were rumors going around that an old baddie would show up at the end of the season and (even though they weren't true) some of the ideas people talked about intrigued me. The idea of Piedmon being banished through MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny rather then getting deleted was definately a fun idea. I always loved Piedmon as a bad guy and thought it would be so cool if he could show up again. More will be explained in later chapters, though. To all those who are 100% set on the fact that Piedmon has kicked the bucket, well, tough. It's fanfiction and that gives me liberty to do what I want! MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! ... Anyways... Hope you liked that chapter!   
  
^_^ Please review!  
  
~ Ok, remember to let me know if you think "Lost in Darkness" can stay as the title! I love input. ^_^ ~  
  
(Oh, and you might try checking back on Thursday or Friday... ^_~) 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: This is sad, because not only do I not own Digimon, but the idea of Piedmon still being alive wasn't entirely mine either, as I stated in my last A/N. o_O;;  
  
"Piedmon?" said Davis, confused, "But, Tai, wasn't Piedmon one of the Dark Masters?"   
  
The clown digimon smirked and took a low bow. "Indeed, young one. I, Piedmon, was one of the Dark Masters, the strongest in fact. I am therefore not surprised to hear that my reputation has made it even to your ears."   
  
The boy frowned. "But that doesn't make sense! The Dark Masters were defeated years ago! Why are you here now? And for that matter, where is here!?"   
  
From a few steps behind him, Tai looked up, not believing that this was possible. The day that Piedmon was defeated had been burned into his mind. After all, it wasn't every day you almost died, got saved at the last second by your best friend, got turned into a keychain, and saved the entire Digital World, not to mention the real world as well. He tried to think of what could have possibly gone wrong. How could they have missed the fact that Piedmon was still alive? He closed his eyes tightly as he remembered the battle. They were all surrounded by Vilemon, but with the help of their digimon friends they were winning. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon aimed their combined attack at Piedmon and... Tai gasped and opened his eyes wide as realisation suddenly hit him.   
  
"The Gate of Destiny..." he whispered.   
  
Agumon looked up at his partner. "What did you say?"   
  
The older boy's eyes narrowed as he stared at his old foe. "It was MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny attack, wasn't it?" he spat at the smirking clown, "That attack doesn't delete an enemy, it merely sends it to another world, a prison of sorts. You and a bunch of Vilemon were pushed into it. That's why there are all these digimon flying around; they got sucked in with you. Am I right?"   
  
"Well, it seems you have grown up in the years I have been here," Piedmon answered calmly, "I remember you being much more hot-headed. I am surprised you have not yet set your pet on me. Perhaps you are remembering how overpowered he was before your precious friends showed up."   
  
Tai's fists were shaking at his sides. He remembered. 'If he's as strong as he was before, Agumon doesn't have much of a chance, and that's only if he can even digivolve to mega. There was only enough power from Azulongmon for him to warp-digivolve, but who knows how long that power lasts. If he can't...' The boy shook his head, not wanting to think of what would happen to them.   
  
"Oh yeah!?" Davis shouted, taking a step towards the former Master, "We'll see how tough you are when the others find us! I'll bet that any minute now they'll come busting in here ready to tell you the real ending to your story!"   
  
"I have been awaiting their arrival since I was informed that you had entered my gates in the Digital World," said the clown with a laugh, "Ever since I found the secret to opening my own gates from the inside, I knew it was only a matter of time until the digidestined discovered them."   
  
"What?" questioned Tai, "But why? With all of us here, you'd be sure to lose."   
  
"Oh no!" cried Davis suddenly, causing Tai and Agumon to jump. He pointed at the clown as he said, "You said no one can leave this place! You want everyone to get trapped here just like you! You want us all to stay here forever and ever, never leaving, having to live the same fate you were given! We'll all be trapped here until we are old and wrinkly and smell like dirty socks! Our teeth will have fallen out and -"   
  
"Davis! We get the point!" exclaimed Tai, not in the mood to listen to the boy's endless chatter.   
  
"Well, you may have grown, but it seems you have passed on your stupidity to another," Piedmon mocked, watching in amusement as Tai had to grab Davis before the younger boy could attack the mega with his fists. "You even passed your goggles on to him. How touching."   
  
"If that's not what you want, you overgrown, creepy, poor excuse for a storyteller, what else could you possibly want!? Do you want us to kill you for good!? Because I'll gladly put you out of your misery right now!" yelled Davis as he struggled to get free of the older boy's grip.   
  
"He wants to get out," said Agumon. Davis stopped struggling, and both boys stared up at Piedmon whose lips were twisted into a cruel smile.   
  
The younger boy blinked. "Uh oh."   
  
Tai shook his head. "No! I won't let you get free! If they find a way for us to leave, there's no way you're coming with us!"   
  
Agumon stepped forward. "You opened all of those gates knowing that one of us would be sure to come across one. There probably isn't a way to get out of here from inside, is there? You knew that the others would try to find out how to get us out from the outside, and that's when you'd escape!"   
  
Piedmon bowed his head. "Bravo, Agumon. I must say that you have grown as well, and I shall indeed enjoy our rematch. For now that I know the rest of the Digidestined have been informed of your whereabouts, I am afraid I am only in need of one." He eyed Tai. "To be used as bait, of course."   
  
With that, the clown threw off the tattered cloak to reveal the four swords attached to his back. His eyes moved to Davis as he grabbed them, two swords in each hand, and jumped into the air.   
  
"Trump Sword!"   
  
"Davis! Look out!" cried Tai as he pushed the younger boy to the ground, his digivice screaching wildly.   
  
"Agumon warp-digivolve to... WarGreymon!"   
  
The swords flew over the boys' heads and circled around, heading back to Piedmon. He grabbed them and smirked as he gazed at the mega before him. "You were mere child's play to me. What makes you think you stand a chance against me now, fool?"   
  
With an angered cry, WarGreymon flew at his opponant. "I will not let you hurt these children or anyone else ever again!" He lashed his steel claws out at the clown, but only to have him jump gracefully out of the way. Turning around, he heard "Clown Trick!" and immidiately ran out of the way of the oncoming attack.   
  
"Yeah! You get him WarGreymon!" shouted Davis, fists in the air.   
  
Tai merely watched silently, gritting his teeth every time a new attack was unleashed. He believed in his partner's strength, but he couldn't help but remember the result of their last battle. Images of WarGreymon's bruised body and cracked armor kept flashing through his mind. 'It was my fault,' he thought to himself, 'I got in the way and he was hurt so badly trying to protect me.' "Davis, we have to get to a safer place. Ok? Davis?"   
  
The older boy turned around, his eyes frantically searching for his friend. He gasped as he saw a Vilemon holding one hand over the struggling boy's mouth. The other was inches from his throat, sharp claws extended.   
  
to be continued...   
  
A/N: Oh no! Hurry! Save Davis! Oh wait, that's up to me, isn't it? Mwahahahaha... We'll see what happens. I hope this chapter cleared up some things. Let me know if some things are still a little unclear and I'll try to fix them. This was not how I foresaw this chapter turning out, but hey, I think it went all right. Wow, I don't believe that I'm writting this all because my sis wanted a Tai fic. _ Not that I hate it. I wouldn't post it if I did. But still! She just wanted a one shot! I don't think I could do a good one shot for the life of me. Even "New Year" (my only one shot) got a prequel (thing...) added to it! Oh well. Hope you enjoyed it! And since the (2...) people that reviewed said "Lost in Darkness" was acceptable, it will stay (as you may have noticed). Thanx for the title, Dukect!  
  
Ok, last thing... It's really sad for me to have to say this but... If I don't get at least 2 reviews (just 2! that shouldn't be too hard, right?), then there's not much point in me finishing this... Honestly, if no one reads it, then who cares? So yeah, I hate saying that, but I just want to know if it's worth it. ^_^;; 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Er, yeah, it's been a while.... Ah well, I write this story for my sis and myself when I feel the need or want to. If anyone has read this before and wished I had updated sooner, then I apologize, but I think that would be a total of like one person. ^_^;; Ah well, as I said, it's just something fun for me to work on once in a while. Anyway, here goes the next chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: I still do not own Digimon. Piedmon would have gotten a proper deletion if I did, not that whole being knocked backwards into a gate thing. Not only that, but come on! An ULTIMATE opened it! I don't see an ultimate beating Piedmon, as cool as MagnaAngemon is.  
  
"Davis!" shouted Tai, panicked. With a cry, the older boy was immediately on his feet, charging at the hideous creature. Unfazed, the Vilemon merely flew higher, laughing as he saw Tai almost run into a nearby pillar. He looked up angrily. "Come back here, you coward!" The creature merely laughed harder at the boy below him.  
  
The digimon's eyes suddenly widened and he let out a shriek. Before he knew what was happening, Tai noticed his friend falling at a rapid pace towards the hard floor. Without thinking, the older boy rushed to where Davis would land.  
  
'Maybe this isn't such a good idea,' he thought as the other boy fell on top of him, causing them both to hit the ground. "Owww! Davis, I think you should cut back on the junk food a bit," said Tai, rubbing his head and pushing the younger boy off of him.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!" cried Davis, scowling at his friend.  
  
"What did you do to him anyway?" asked Tai, watching as the Vilemon hopped around, gripping his hand.  
  
The other boy grinned widely. "Simple! While you were running around like an idiot down here, he loosened his hold on me so I was able to move his hand just enough so that I could bite him!" he said proudly.  
  
Tai just stared at him. "You BIT him?"  
  
Before Davis could reply, both boys turned as an angry hiss alerted them to the Vilemon's recovery. The creature flew at them, claws outstretched.  
  
"Look out!" yelled Tai as he dove out of harm's way. Glancing at Davis to make sure he had made it also, he instantly turned his attention back to the small digimon. Furious, the Vilemon quickly turned and charged again.  
  
"Dude! Quit it already, will ya!?" shouted Davis as he dodged the fifth such attack. Tai grabbed the younger boy's arm. "Hey, what was that for?" he whined.  
  
"I have an idea," replied the other boy quietly, pulling his friend out of the way of another attack. "Follow me."  
  
With a nod, the younger boy did as he was told. He followed as Tai ran a few feet away and stood right in front of the rooms many pillars.  
  
"Hey! Good i-"  
  
The older boy quickly clamped his hand over the other boy's mouth. As Davis tried to pry himself free and give Tai a piece of his mind, the older boy watched as the Vilemon dove at them one more time. The smaller boy attempted to move out of the way, but the other had a firm grip on him. At the last second, Tai suddenly pushed Davis to the floor and ducked out of the way as the creature flew by, hitting the pillar head on and falling to the floor, unconcious.  
  
"Man, Tai, couldn't you have been a little easier on me?" complained Davis as he glared at the   
  
older boy.  
  
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" replied Tai with a smile. But that soon vanished as he stared into the dark hall.  
  
"Now what?" moaned Davis, turning his head to see just what his friend was looking at. "Oh no."  
  
Tai nodded and gulped as the hoard of Vilemon came out of the shadows, surrounding the two boys.  
  
"I hate to say it, but I really don't think that trick will work on all of them," said Davis quietly as he rose to his feet and moved towards the other boy, the hideous creatures staring at them, laughing.  
  
* * *  
  
Ignoring the cold night breeze, Matt hurried down the street, quickly glancing around as he crossed the street. He'd just gotten the call from Izzy, and from the sound of his voice things were going to be more complicated then they had anticipated. They had once again decided to meet at the park, only this time they were all told specifically not to forget their digivices.  
  
As he neared the specified area, the boy noticed that Kari and TK were already there. He looked around in confusion.  
  
"Where is everyone?" he asked, "Shouldn't at least Izzy and Ken be here?" As he sat down on the bench next to his brother he saw him shrug.  
  
"I would think so, but while I was talking to Izzy I heard Ken ask him something about the digimon, so I'm guessing they're still tracking them all down," he answered.  
  
"I'm glad that us younger kids have ours with us already," said Kari quietly, Gatomon sitting on her lap. The small digimon nodded.  
  
"And all of us had a nice nap while the rest of you were out, so we're good and rested," Patamon added with a smile.  
  
Within a few minutes, the rest of the Digidestined showed up, Izzy and Ken arriving last.  
  
"Sorry we're so late," the younger apologized.  
  
Izzy quickly opened his laptop, typed in a few things, and once again turned it around for the rest to see. It was the same screen as before with the black tears present.  
  
"The first thing Ken and I looked into was just what kind of a world these tears led too," he began, "By looking at each tear as a gateway, we tried to get a visual, much like with the televisions in the Digital World. We were rather discouraged as our first attempts seemed to fail, until we realized that they were not failures at all. They were in fact what the world actually looks like." Izzy pulled up an image.  
  
"Wait a minute," said Joe, "That picture is completely blank."  
  
"That's what we thought, but that's not the case. It's not blank, it's black."  
  
The rest of the Digidestined just stared at him, silent. Kari was the first to speak.  
  
"Y-you mean that my brother is trapped in a world covered in total darkness?"  
  
"Well, it's not TOTAL darkness," began Izzy, pulling up another image. "We did find this image from one of the gates."  
  
The picture that the boy had pulled up was still dark, but it showed a narrow corridor dimly lit by a few scattered torches.  
  
"So things actually live in that place?" asked Matt skeptically.  
  
"Apparently, but we have yet to confirm that theory," replied Izzy as he turned his laptop back around and began typing.  
  
"We have, however, figured out how to pick up their signals from here," continued Ken, realizing that the other boy was once again hard at work. "From that, we know that all three of them are in the same area and that the gate with the image of the hallway would transport us the closest to their location."  
  
"Well, that's good news," said TK, hoping that Kari would cheer up.  
  
"Izzy and I also realized that if we were to create our own vacuum from the DigiWorld side of the gate, the two would, for the most part, cancel each other out. Unfortunately we don't have anything that can create a vacuum that strong, so it could only be open for a short time. We wanted to create a brand new gate, but that could take days," he added.  
  
"How long will the gate be open, then?" Matt asked.  
  
Izzy stopped typing and looked up. "You would have approximately thirty seconds, depending on how our gate holds up."  
  
"You don't expect us to find them and get back out in that amount of time, I hope," Yolei muttered loudly.  
  
"Of course not," replied Ken, "We will only activate our vacuum when you are ready to return."  
  
"Just how are you creating this vacuum, anyway?" asked Cody curiously.  
  
"Cody, I don't think we'd understand it even if they told us," said TK with a smile.  
  
"Well?" said Matt, suddenly standing, "What are we waiting for?"  
  
The rest of the Digidestined nodded and awaited further instruction from Izzy. The boy looked up from his laptop and smiled. "Alright," he said at last, "Let's go."  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: Ok, I realize the Vilemon probably have attacks, but they didn't use any in the one episode they were in in the first season. I didn't feel like finding the Tamers episode (11?) with him in it either, so I just didn't give them any. Also, I know that last part was kind of boring and VERY vague. How do they create a vacuum? I have no clue. Something smart and technical. However Piedmon did it. How in the world would that work? Again, I do not know. I so could not think of anything. This was the part that I KNEW from the beginning I would have trouble with. I am so not smart or creative enough to come up with anything good. _ Oh well. We'll see how the next one goes... And it will come eventually, I promise. I'm actually in the mood to write this fic now, so it may be finished soon. We'll just have to see. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I know it's been a while, but I still don't own Digimon. Big surprise, I'm sure.  
  
"You guys ready?"  
  
Matt looked over at the others that would be following him through the tear. Kari had insisted that she and Gatomon go to retrieve her brother, not that Matt blamed her. If TK were the one trapped, nothing could have kept him from going. She nodded firmly. He then looked at Ken who had both Wormmon and Veemon at his side. The boy had been chosen to go as well in order to help out the small group if things didn't go exactly as planned. Matt wasn't sure how he felt about going into a world of darkness with the two Digidestined that seemed to be affected by it the most. 'Then again, I guess I'm not really one to talk,' he thought, remembering what had happened to him a few years back in the DigiWorld. He shook his head, and quickly looked down at the last member of the group.  
  
"I'm ready when you are, Matt," said his faithful digimon.  
  
"Right," he said with a nod, "Then let's not waste any more time." He turned to look at the black oval hanging before him. "Ken?"  
  
The younger boy nodded, and he and Wormmon stepped forward. It had been agreed upon that they would enter the gate in pairs to avoid any unnecessary crashes on the other side. Ken suddenly gasped as his feet were yanked out from under him. In no time, he had been completely sucked into the other world.  
  
Matt looked at his digivice. They were told to wait about thirty seconds before sending in the next pair. He glanced at Kari, who seemed rather anxious to find her brother. When enough time had passed, he looked up and nodded. Gripping Gatomon tightly, the young girl took a deep breath and ran at the opening. She quickly disappeared from sight as well. Thirty seconds later, Veemon was also gone, leaving only Matt and Gabumon.  
  
"Our turn," said the boy with a smile.  
  
His partner returned the smile. "Are we walking in, or taking it at a run?"  
  
Matt laughed. "Well, I'm not sure how feel about suddenly having my feet sucked out from under me at all, but running seems at least a little better. I'll race you!" At that, the boy sprinted towards the gate.  
  
"Hey! No fair!" cried Gabumon as he ran after his partner.  
  
As Matt drew closer and closer to the opening, he felt the wind pick up. When he was almost to the tear, he felt himself lifted into the air and hurtled towards the darkness. He closed his eyes and awaited the impact that was sure to come. The boy soon crashed onto a cold, stone floor, and he heard another thud next to him which he knew had to be Gabumon.  
  
"You guys okay?" came Veemon's voice.  
  
The blonde sat up, holding his head. He was now not only dizzy, but had a rather large headache. He looked over to make sure Gabumon was okay, and, seeing that he was, he turned to get a better look at his surroundings. As expected, they had all landed inside some kind of building made completely of stone with a few random torches lining the walls. He then turned back to the others. "Yeah, we're fine. Have you picked up Tai and Davis' signals?"  
  
The younger boy nodded and held up his digivice where Matt saw the two flashing lights representing their friends. He then pointed to the left and said, "It seems that they are over in this direction."  
  
"Alright," replied the older boy as he stood up. He turned to look back the direction they had been flung from. An identical tear hung a few feet away, only this one was blowing air rather than sucking it in. "Gabumon, I'm going to need you to stay here. That way, all I have to do is pick up your signal in order to find our way back here."  
  
"But, Matt..." began the protective digimon.  
  
"It'll be okay, Gabumon," Veemon spoke up, "I'll keep an eye on him for you."  
  
"Well, alright..." he replied, still not liking the idea of his partner going off without him.  
  
"We'll be back before you know it," Kari reassured him, Gatomon nodding her agreement.  
  
"Perhaps he should digivolve just in case something happens," suggested Ken. The older boy nodded and held out his digivice. It flashed wildly, and the rookie was suddenly engulfed in a bright light. Moments later, WereGarurumon stood in his place.  
  
"Come on, let's go," said Matt suddenly as he headed in the direction Ken had pointed earlier. Personally, he didn't want to leave his partner behind, but he doubted either Kari or Veemon would have stayed, and they may need Ken later. 'Sorry, Gabumon,' he thought to himself, looking down at his digivice, 'We'll be back soon.'  
  
* * *  
  
"Tai! Are you okay!?" cried Davis as one of the many Vilemon knocked his friend to the ground. The younger boy let out a yelp as he noticed two more flying his way. He ducked just in time and heard the sound of heads bashing together and then two thumps next to him. "Yeah! Score two for me!"  
  
Tai slowly got back to his feet. His head was pounding, and his arm was very sore. He looked at it and noticed that the scrapes from holding on to the tree earlier were starting to open up. He dove out of the way as another Vilemon flew at him. He wanted badly to call out to his digimon partner, but every time he glanced over at him, he would remember just who else was there. WarGreymon's strength was running out, and fast. There was no way he could take care of all these Vilemon and Piedmon.  
  
"This is bad," muttered Tai through clenched teeth as he dodged another Vilemon. He looked up sharply as he heard the familiar cackle of the hideous creatures. He then heard another laugh come from behind him, and then one from the left. "Great."  
  
The boy quickly ran to the right, ducking under and jumping over the other digimon that flew at him. But he wasn't quite fast enough, and one slammed him into a nearby pillar. Tai grabbed his head, and quickly turned to face the rest of his attackers. Four more had joined the earlier three that had chased him. He gulped, but stood his ground.  
  
"Bring it on!" he shouted at them, his fists ready.  
  
They laughed harder as one of them flew at him. The Vilemon stretched out his claws, ready to tear them through the Digidestined's skin. Luckily, Tai's arms were longer. With all his might, the boy punched the creature in the eye, and it fell to the floor screaming and clutching his eye.  
  
"Yeah!" cried Tai at his victory, "Anyone else want to try me?" The remaining six immediately made for him. "I had to ask..."  
  
"Tai!!"  
  
As the nearest Vilemon scratched his face, he couldn't help but think that Davis' voice had suddenly gotten a lot higher. He was startled to see several bright lights not too far away from him. He was even more startled to hear a familiar voice cry out, "Celestial Arrow!" Almost instantly, the Vilemon that had come at him a few short moments earlier flew at the new attacker.  
  
* * *  
  
Piedmon glanced over as the lights faded. A cruel smile slid across his face. "Well, well, it looks as if your little friends have finally come for you."  
  
Exhausted, WarGreymon breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He gasped as in that moment Piedmon came at him, his swords drawn.  
  
"Our fight isn't over yet, WarGreymon," said the clown as he brought one of his sword down. A loud clang rang through the room as it hit with the other digimon's metal claws.  
  
WarGreymon grunted under the strain, but now that the others had arrived, his strength seemed renewed. He flung Piedmon's attack away and readied himself for the next. 'Just a little longer,' he told himself as the evil mega released his next attack.  
  
* * *  
  
"Tai! Are you okay?"  
  
The boy looked up to see his little sister and best friend run toward him. "Kari! Matt! Man, you guys sure know how to cut it close. I guess Veemon told you what happened."  
  
Kari nearly knocked Tai over as she hugged him, while Matt nodded. "Ken, Stingmon, and XV-mon are with Davis. Izzy has a plan to get us out, but it looks like we have some business to take care of here first," said the blonde. He then smirked and added, "You look terrible."  
  
"Thanks, Matt, good to see you too," replied Tai with a grin. "But where's Gabumon? Why isn't he with you?"  
  
"He's guarding our escape route," the other boy replied. He looked around and when his eyes fell upon their old foe they widened. "Is that...!?"  
  
Tai nodded. Kari put a hand to her mouth and gasped as she recognized the clown digimon. "But how?" she asked.  
  
"Let's just say MagnaAngemon's Gate of Destiny attack doesn't exactly delete the enemy."  
  
"I see," muttered Matt, his eyes never leaving the mega, "So he's been opening all of those tears."  
  
"There's more than one?" asked Tai, surprised.  
  
"Yeah, but right now we have to worry about getting everyone out of here without our old friend following us."  
  
Kari looked around and noticed that their digimon had managed to finish off the Vilemon. The others were making their way towards them, Davis with a big grin on his face.  
  
"...and then they crashed into each other! Those guys were nothing for someone like me!" boasted the boy, who now sported a scraped knee and a tear in his shirt sleeve. Ken just smiled, an incredulous look on his face.  
  
"Good," said Matt, noticing the other's arrival, Davis running straight up to Kari looking positively thrilled to see her. "Now we only have one more to worry about."  
  
Tai nodded as he watched his digimon, tired from the constant fighting, battle their last opponent, one who should have been gone long ago. "This time, we'll get rid of that clown for good."  
  
to be continued...  
  
A/N: That one was longer than expected, and I still didn't end it where I thought it would. I thought I'd be able to get farther, but I'm trying to keep the chapters about the same size. And it was a decent place to end the chapter, I thought. Well, due to my writing more (yet less) then thought I would, it seems as if this fic will have yet another chapter added to it. I had thought that this one and one more would finish it, but it seems as though that will change. Depending on how things go, there will either be two or three chapters left. I'm just glad I came up with an ending! Yeah! I was really mad at 02's digivolving rules, but I figured out how to end it without breaking them and without it sounding TOO cheesy. Of course, that's only if I can remember my plan since I have lost the typed copy I had. _ 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this anymore... If you don't know by now, then oh well.

"Alright! Now to take out the clown! You ready to DNA digivolve, XV-mon?" cried Davis.

"Davis, wait a sec!"

Everyone turned toward Tai. The younger boy looked at him, confused. "What's the matter? WarGreymon needs help, and Imperialdramon is the only one strong enough to stop Piedmon!"

"Look around you," he said, waving his arm at the pillared room. "First of all, the ceiling isn't high enough; Imperialdramon wouldn't fit well. Not to mention the pillars would get in the way. He's just too big. He'd be a sitting duck. They should digivolve to Paildramon. He's smaller and faster, making him a harder target to hit. Besides, if Piedmon does follow us out, we'll need Imperialdramon then... WHAT are you all staring at me for?"

Matt smirked, "It's just that it's not like you to think a situation through so thoroughly before acting."

"You do tend to just rush in there a lot of the time, Tai," agreed his sister, Davis nodding beside her.

"Oh, who cares?" he cried, "Just hurry up and digivolve! WarGreymon can't last much longer!"

"Right!" Davis looked at Ken who nodded. In a flash, Stingmon and XV-mon were replaced by Paildramon who immidiately ran towards the dueling megas, Angewomon following closely behind.

Piedmon glanced over at the newcomers while dodging WarGreymon's attack. "It seems your little friends have decided to interfere," he mused as he pulled his swords from his back. "I guess I'll just have to deal with them now rather than later. Trump Sword!" The mega's four swords flew at the oncoming digimon who immidiately flew out of the way.

"WarGreymon, we'll take it from here! You get out of here and make sure the Children return to the Digital World safely," Angewomon said as she readied a shining arrow. Exhausted, the mega glowed softly as he reverted back to his rookie form and ran back to his waiting partner.

"Celestial Arrow!"

"Clown Trick!" The arrow was blown away, and Angewomon quickly flew out of the way, watching as Paildramon unleashed his attack seconds later, only to have the sinister clown dodge once again.

"He's too fast!" he shouted, "We have to find a way to stall him just long enough for the Children to get through the gate, but how?"

* * *

Tai ran up to his injured partner. "Agumon! Are you gonna be ok?" 

The little Digimon nodded. "We have to get out of here and quick! I don't know how long they'll be able to hold him."

"It's this way to the gate!" cried Matt as he led the way down a dim corridor, keeping an eye on his digivice. "Those two had better follow us or they won't be able to get out."

"Paildramon! Hurry up! You can't lose sight of us or you'll never know the way back!" shouted Davis over his shoulder, glancing back as his partner let loose another attack.

The five Digidestined ran down the hallway, Matt in the lead. They rounded the last corner only to see another Vilemon fly right at them.

"Wolf Claw!" Five bright red streaks cut the smaller digimon apart. With a shrill cry, it broke into a thousand pieces of data. "Matt!" cried WereGarurumon, "Are you alright? Where are the others?"

"They're fighting Piedmon," he answered. Upon seeing his digimon's shocked face, he shook his head. "There's no time to explain. They need your help and fast. But try to get them here as soon as possible. Remember, we only have 30 seconds."

"30 seconds?" Tai and Davis shouted as the ultimate took off in the direction they had come.

"We'd better get out of here now!"

"They'll never make it in time!"

"What he means is that once Izzy opens the gate, we only have 30 seconds to go through or it will close on us," explained Ken, "So we can't go through yet. Not until our partners catch up with us."

"Then why did we run here in the first place?" asked Davis. "It's not like it did us any good."

"We needed to send WereGarurumon after them as soon as possible. They needed help, remember?" replied Matt, clearly unimpressed with the young leader's memory skills.

"Oh yeah..."

"Here they come!"

As soon as Kari had shouted her warning, a large explosion shook the building. Moments later, Angewomon landed just feet in front of them, glowing as Gatomon soon took the angel's place. Her partner quickly ran to her and lifted her gently.

"I'm sorry. He's just too strong for us," replied the feline weakly.

"You did your best," whispered Kari as she carried her digimon back to where the others waited.

"Ken, contact Izzy and make sure he's ready to open that gate," said Tai, his eyes never leaving the end of the hall where the sounds from the battle could be heard quite clearly. The younger boy nodded as he quickly typed a message to Yolei on his D-Terminal. No sooner had he finished than WereGarurumon ran around the corner, two swords flying behind him. He quickly turned to knock them away, gaining more cuts to his already injured body.

"WereGarurumon!" cried Matt, as his partner fell to one knee.

"Matt, tell Izzy to open the gate! We have to leave now!" shouted the ultimate.

"But what about Paildramon?" asked Davis, still seeing no sign of his partner. Another explosion hit, causing the boy to lose his balance. He sighed in relief as his partner had apparently not met the same fate as Gatomon since the attacks did not let up.

"Guys! Izzy's opening the gate in exactly 10 seconds!" cried Ken, who was also glancing expectantly towards the battle. "He'll make it," he added quietly.

Davis smiled and nodded. He then checked the time, watching as the seconds seemed to creep by. At last, the time was up. Immidiately the oval tear began to crackle with energy and the harsh wind that had previously blown through it started to let up.

"This is it!" cried Tai as he headed for the opening as quickly as possible. The wind had indeed slowed, but it was still coming through rather quickly. Shielding his eyes, he and Agumon made their way as quickly as possible through the tear. It felt like walking through a wind tunnel. But he soon stumbled forward, realizing that he was once again in the Digital World.

"Tai!" cried Sora happily as he appeared through the tear.

As soon as he had regained his breath, he shouted, "Everyone digivolve, now!" When everyone just stared at him, confused, he hurriedly got out of the way of the opening and yelled, "There's no time to explain! Piedmon might come through the gateway with us and we need to be ready if that happens!"

* * *

"Alright, Kari, you're next!" cried Matt above the noise from the battle. 

The girl nodded. Grasping her digimon partner tightly she plunged into the opening, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

"Davis! Ken! Come on!" he shouted.

"If you think I'm going to let those Digidestined brats get away so easily, you are highly mistaken! Clown Trick!" cried Piedmon, a smirk no longer on his face, as the ball of energy soared past Paildramon and towards the escaping boys.

"Hurry!" Matt yelled as he pushed Davis through behind Ken. He glanced back just in time to realize that he wasn't going to make it all the way through before the mega's attack hit him. As he braced himself for the impact, he noticed a figure suddenly jump in the way and take it on full blast.

"WereGarurumon!" The boy quickly ran to his partner who had since reverted all the way back to his in-training level. Carefully picking Tsunomon up, he ran back to the opening, checking the time. Gasping, he turned back to the two digimon still in battle. "Paildramon! You have less than 10 seconds!" And with that he made his way back into the Digital World.

"Matt! Where's Paildramon? There's only a few seconds left!" Davis cried as the older boy quickly got out of the way of the opening.

"I know, I told him right before I came through." Seeing the slightly anxious look on Ken's face, he added, "Don't worry, he's coming."

As if on cue, Paildramon's body was flung out of the tear. As it hit the ground, he too reverted back, leaving Veemon and Wormmon lying on the ground, Piedmon only a foot behind them.

to be continued...

A/N: Ah, well, a bit shorter than I would have liked, but no biggie. I got what I wanted to accomplish in this chapter done so I'm happy. Although I apologize for the lack of Tai. I realize this is a Tai story, but there were so many characters in this chapter! Don't worry; I've got big plans for your favorite goggle boy, sis! Dun dun dun! Piedmon is back in the Digital World once again! And in addition to that, some of the digimon are out of commission for a while! This doesn't look good, does it? Guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out what happens!

And yes, this took way too long to get out, but I'm not focusing on it much since not many people seem interested, lol. But upon recieving a review (wow, someone reviewed and I hadn't even updated in months!), I felt compelled to add more. And, actually, Chapter 11 shouldn't be too far behind (and I mean that this time ;;). It's about 85 written and since they are short chapters, that means there's not too much left. This fic will probably end up either 12 chapters or 13, but it depends on if I have enough for a complete 13th chapter.

Jingeling - Wow, thanks for the compliment! I tried to keep the style as true to the American dub as possible, since that is what I am most familiar with. Nice to know that someone thinks I pulled it off.:)


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: For anyone keeping up with this story, sorry about the late update! But be sure to read the A/N at the end of this chapter for a nice surpise. But a special thanks to Shakia - your reviews were so great and very much appreciated! Considering it's been 3 months since you reviewed, I hope you haven't forgotten my humble fic... And yes, I had so much fun writing Davis' part in there! (XD) Anyway, on to the fic!

"Did you miss me?"

The Digidestined watched in wide-eyed horror as the mega digimon stepped out of the void, his mocking laughter ringing through the forest. As soon as he was through, the makeshift tunnel crackled with energy and collapsed with a deep boom, leaving only the forest behind him.

"Digivolve!" cried Tai. As the surrounding forest shone with the bright light of digivolution, the Chosen leader's mind was reeling. 'Piedmon is back in the Digital World! We can't let him win! We have to beat him once and for all!' But how? Agumon couldn't possibly digivolve, Tsunomon and Gatomon also seemed to be out, and Veemon and Wormmon would need to rest a while before digivolving into Imperialdramon. 'We have to keep those two safe for now. They're the best chance we've got.'

"Ken, Davis!" The two younger boys turned to look at Tai. Both were kneeling next to their weakened partners. "Get further back into the forest! We need Veemon and Wormmon to get their strength back so they can fight again! We can't chance anything happening to them right now!"

Both boys nodded and carried their digimon further from the battle. Tai watched on as the rest of the Digidestined and their partners attacked Piedmon with everything they had. Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon, Zudomon, Shakkoumon, Aquilamon... Four ultimates and one champion against one mega. He was really starting to wish Mimi were here.

'It wouldn't matter anyway, we can't beat him like this,' the Child of Courage thought as he watched over his own digimon, moving behind a nearby tree for better protection, 'No matter what, we'll need a mega level digimon to fight him to even stand a chance of winning. If they can just keep him busy long enough -'

His thoughts were abruptly disrupted as a loud explosion shook the tree he had taken cover behind. Tai looked up just in time to curse himself for choosing this particular tree as one of the tree's limbs began falling toward him and his resting partner.

* * *

"Matt!" cried TK above the noise of the battle, "What's going on?" The boy quickly ducked behind a tree as one of Piedmon's swords flew by. "Why on earth is Piedmon here?"

"I'm still not really sure," replied the older brother, clutching Tsunomon in his arms, "Let's just say that I don't think it's a good idea to have MagnaAngemon use his Gate of Destiny attack anymore!"

"What?"

"TK, watch out!"

Hearing the warning, the boy quickly ran out of the way of the stray Horn Buster that flew past the area he had just been standing in. The force of the blast knocked him off his feet, causing him to fall directly into the one that had warned him of the oncoming attack.

"Kari, are you ok?" he asked as he quickly got up and offered the girl a hand who gratefully accepted.

"I'm alright," assured the girl, Gatomon by her side, "But have you seen Tai?" Her face clearly showed her worry for her older brother.

TK shook his head. "I was too busy staring at Piedmon to notice where he went. Hey Matt, have you seen Tai?"

"He should be back in that direction," Matt called back, pointing into the forest. Making sure the coast was clear, he ran over to the two younger Digidestined. "That was where he was when Piedmon first showed up. Come on, we can look for him together."

Kari nodded and turned to TK who shook his head. "I'm going to stay here in case anything happens to Shakkoumon. But you guys be careful, alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her," Matt replied with a wink, leaving his brother a light shade of pink. The Child of Friendship turned to Kari and Gatomon. "Let's go."

* * *

Piedmon grinned, chuckling to himself. With WarGreymon out of the picture, there was no longer any hope left for the Digidestined. No ultimate, let alone champion, could truly defeat him. Even the last time they fought, it was indeed an ultimate's attack that swallowed him, but it still took two megas to force him into that world of darkness.

'And I am not nearly so careless as to fall to the same fate now,' he thought as he released a Clown Trick in the direction of Zudomon who quickly made to block it.

"Wing Blade!"

Piedmon smirked, throwing two of his swords at his attacker as he sliced through the fiery assault with the remaining two. Garudamon quickly flew away from the oncoming swords, but not before one of them had scratched her leg.

"Garudamon!" cried Sora as her partner let out a sharp cry, her face revealing her anxiety.

Nimbly jumping over Aquilamon who had decided to try a direct charge, the clown mega grabbed the large bird by one of his legs and with a biting laugh threw him directly at the worried girl. The humans were weak, unable to protect themselves, making themselves easy targets.

"Sora! Watch out!"

And so their digimon would voluntarily take the hits for them. Just as he had predicted, Garudamon swooped down to save her partner. Sora ducked as Aquilamon smacked into the ultimate and the two digimon crashed into the nearby trees. The girl quickly got back up and ran to her fallen partner who was wincing in pain.

Piedmon's smirk remained. "Child's play."

* * *

"Just my luck!" cried Tai in a frantic tone as he squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting the impact.

"Pepper Breath!"

The panicked leader quickly reopened his eyes in time to see a fireball hit the limb and knock it away. It landed with a loud thud a mere few feet away and lay in a lightly smoking heap from the attack.

"Tai? Can you stop hugging me so tightly? I can't breathe very well..."

The boy loosened his deathgrip on his partner. "Sorry Agumon, I thought we were goners for sure!" he replied sheepishly.

The rookie digimon looked hurt. "You didn't think I'd protect you?"

"It's not that, I just didn't think you were well enough yet," Tai assured him, "I mean, Piedmon didn't exactly go easy on you." The boy momentarily thought back to the two megas last one-on-one match. If Matt hadn't shown up... He shook his head, not wanting to think about it. It was the same now as it had been back then. "Are you feeling alright? Well, considering the situation."

Agumon nodded. "I am a little weak. That fight really took a lot out of me. But I still want to help fight!" he said with a stern look, "There's no way I'll let Piedmon win so easily!"

"Calm down, Agumon! You still need to rest. The others can take care of it for now," the leader said, trying to persuade his partner to at least rest a while longer. "Look, I know they won't be able to defeat him, but if they can just wear him down a bit, by the time Veemon and Wormmon get some of their strength back, we may just get the chance we need." Seeing his partner's stern look upon being left out of the equation, he quickly added, "That goes for you too, of course."

"Tai!" called Kari as she, Gatomon, Matt and Tsunomon ran up to him.

The young leader looked up, relieved to hear the sound of his little sister's voice.

"Kari! And Matt," he shouted back, "You guys ok?" Knowing that their partners were hurt as well, he was glad to see that they were still in one piece.

The girl leaned down to give her brother a quick hug. "We're alright," she answered, leaning back, "But we saw a fireball come from over here so I was afraid something had happened to you."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, well..." Tai hardly wanted to admit that a tree branch had made him fear for his life when Piedmon was only some feet away. "That was just Agumon. He was probably just sending up a signal so someone could find us."

Before Agumon had a chance to protest, Tsunomon jumped in. "Are you still well enough to fight?" he asked, "Even after all that fighting you did one on one against Piedmon earlier?" Matt gave his digimon a little squeeze, having heard the guilt in his voice at being so easily defeated himself.

"Of course!" exclaimed the yellow digimon. He looked as if he would jump up to rejoin the battle at any second.

"Calm down, Agumon!" said Tai, exhasperated. "But I'm glad you guys are here," continued the leader, standing up and facing his friends, "I'm gonna need your help."

"Do you have some kind of a plan?" asked his sister hopefully.

The boy smirked. "If things go well, that clown won't know what hit him."

to be continued...

A/N: Only one chapter left! I always said I'd finish this story and I will! Actually, I already did, lol, but I'll try to get that up when I post the last chapter of OGAG as well. I try to finish every story I start if it is available for others, if not for me than for them, and considering every fic I have posted online now has an ending, I'd say I'm doing pretty good at that. The last chapter is also a little longer - I just thought it flowed better leaving it as one chapter rather than 2.Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to the finale! All critiques are very much appreciated and loved!


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Last chapter! Thanks to the 2 people who reviewed the last chapter. (XD) Ah, this poor story needs more love, but that's ok. I enjoyed it, so I'm happy. I hope anyone that ends up reading this enjoys it too! Onto the end!

"Davis! You gotta let me fight!" whined Veemon as he watched the other digimon take on Piedmon. "They need my help!"

"No way, Veemon!" replied his partner sternly. "You heard what Tai said, you need to save your strength. With Agumon not doing so good, Imperialdramon is our only shot." Though he said it, he too was rather anxious. Seeing the other digimon being beaten while just sitting there was not exactly his idea of fun.

Davis looked around and noticed that Ken seemed to be having the same problem with Wormmon. Apparently Veemon wasn't the only one willing to jump back in the fray so soon. What if... Davis shook his head. Tai and the rest of the older Digidestined had taken on Piedmon before and they knew just how strong he was. Going against what the old leader had said would be foolish.

"But Davis, I'm fine!"

Than again, he was prone to foolishness...

The goggle boy looked down at his partner and grinned. "All right! I'm sick of just sitting here! If you say you're ready to fight, then so am I!"

Looking a little too excited, the little blue digimon looked up and shouted, "Yeah!" With a nod, the two stood up and made a dash for where Ken was crouching. The boy genius looked up quickly, but relaxed when he realized who it was coming toward him.

"Davis, what is it?" he asked, but he had a feeling that he already knew the answer by the look in the other boy's eyes.

"I can't just sit here anymore while the others are getting the stuffing kicked out of 'em!" Veemon, who stood next to his partner gave a harsh nod, trying to show that he really was fine.

Ken didn't look so sure. "Tai told us to rest up for a bit, and I think he's right." But he didn't have time to add more as Wormmon looked up with pleading eyes and said "But Ken, they need our help." Just seeing the look on his digimon's face made his resolve waver.

"I want to help fight too, but I don't know if - "

"Davis! Ken!" came a voice from further into the forest. All four turned to see Kari running toward them, Gatomon in tow. As she reached them, she gave a relieved sigh. "Oh good, I'm so glad I found you. I was afraid that maybe Davis had gotten too restless already."

Feeling suddenly guilty, Davis quickly straightened up. "Of course not! Tai told us to stay put, didn't he? Don't you worry, Kari, as long as I'm here, nothing will - "

"We need your help," continued Kari, ignoring Davis' ramblings, "Tai has a plan, but it'll only work if we all work together and time it just right."

"Of course," repied Ken, glad to finally have the chance to help out, "just tell us what we need to do."

* * *

Matt suddenly ducked behind a tree as a large blast flew past him. He glanced to his right, and seeing that Tai and Agumon had managed to dodge it too, kept moving toward the battle. Once they were close enough, he turned to his partner tucked under his arm. 

"You sure you're all right?" he asked, a little concerned considering the beating he had taken not so long ago.

Tsunomon nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Matt pulled out his Digivice, and with a high squeal and a bright light, Tsunomon became Gabumon, who was just as quickly replaced by Garurumon. Climbing on his partner's back, he cried, "Alright, let's go Garurumon!"

As the two of them raced away, Tai and Agumon watched them. "If they can just stay out of trouble, they should be fine," Tai said, more to reassure himself than anything.

"Do you think they'll be ok?" asked Agumon, "Maybe I should digivolve to draw Piedmon's attack."

The boy looked down at his partner, "No way! We need to make sure you have as much strength back as possible! They're just going to fill everyone in on the plan, and Garurumon is made for speed so they should be able to dodge any attacks."

Agumon looked at the ground. Tai could tell that his partner was getting antsy just sitting there, but it couldn't be helped. For his plan to work, Agumon would need to be well rested. Digivolving into WarGreymon again would take a lot out of him, but they needed another mega to fight Piedmon. He had a gut feeling that WarGreymon would only get one shot. Even though Agumon insisted he was ready to fight, the Child of Courage could tell that he was still exhausted.

"Wolf Claw!"

Tai quickly turned, just in time to see WereGarurumon's attack miss it's target. "There's one," he mumbled, "That must mean Matt managed to get the plan out already. Now all we need is - "

"Celestial Arrow!"

Tai punched the air and let out a "Yes!" as the arrow hit Piedmon square in the chest, knocking him backwards. Now was the time!

"Agumon!" The Digidestined raised his Digivice, Agumon more than ready for what was coming.

"Agumon warp digivolve to... WarGreymon!"

"Alright! You go, WarGreymon!" shouted Tai as his digimon took off, "You know what to do!"

"Right!" The mega digimon looked around to see that as instructed, all of the digimon had begun encircling their opponant. Seeing Angewomon in place, he stopped and readied himself to attack. He was still tired, but he wasn't about to let that stop him.

Piedmon looked on in amusement. 'So, they think they can win by surrounding, do they? A tactic that would work on lesser digimon, but assuredly won't work on me!' He was winning, and he knew it. All of the other digimon were almost completely exhausted by now; Aquilamon had even reverted back to Hawkmon and was now resting in Yolei's arms, and the only mega present he had soundly beaten once already. He smirked. Despite the minor injuries he'd already obtained, he had no doubt that he was still the strongest digimon there.

The clown digimon glanced around him. There was still one area they had yet to close up. "Fools," he muttered to himself, "Do they honestly think such sloppy offenses will work on me?" He straightened up, laughing to himself, waiting for the opposing digimon to make the first move. 'As long as I can take care of WarGreymon permenently, the rest of them are of no concern to me. Soon this little game will be over, and the Digidestined will once and for all be eliminated.'

Suddenly, Angewomon raised her bow toward Piedmon and let a holy arrow fly once more toward the mega. As if on cue, WereGarurumon, Garudamon, MegaKabuterimon, Zudomon, and Shakkoumon all let their strongest attacks fly. Piedmon jumped to dodge the attacks with ease. Noticing a few were aimed a bit higher in case of such an occurance, he grabbed his swords and flung them in opposite directions, breaking the attacks and proceeding to head towards WereGarurumon and Angewomon.

'Now it's my turn!' WarGreymon gathered up all of his strength and with as much energy as he could muster, let out a loud "Terra Force!" It headed straight for the other mega who was still mid-air.

"Well played, WarGreymon, but I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that! Clown Trick!" Putting both hands together, he shot the ball of energy directly at the oncoming attack. But as the two attacks collided with a loud roar, Piedmon felt stinging pain shoot through his whole body, and instead of a soft landing, he hit the ground with a thud and a cry of agony.

"Yeah! How do you like that, you deranged circus clown?"

There, no longer hidden amongst the trees, stood Davis, Ken, and Imperialdramon.

Piedmon cursed to himself as he tried to stand. They had left the opening on purpose, keeping the strongest digimon, one he had never seen before, a secret until he could attack him while completely unaware. He had underestimated them, again.

"No way," whispered Tai as he watched the mega get to his feet. He could still fight? This had to end now, while he was still weak. Turning to his partner, he noticed that WarGreymon was now resting on one knee, but the fact that he had not yet devolved was a welcome surprise. "WarGreymon! You have to finish him, now!"

The digimon's eye's narrowed. "Right!" As if he had just begun the fight, the mega sprang up and ran at Piedmon.

Davis and Ken looked up at their partner too.

"Let's finish this once and for all!"

"Let's cream that guy, Imperialdramon!"

"Terra Force!"

"Positron Laser!"

Frantically, Piedmon tried to dodge, but between the powerful last attack and the countless smaller ones before, he was too slow. As the two attacks hit him, he let out a last loud cry as his body broke into tiny bits of data and flew away.

Tai stared at the spot in disbelief. "We... won," he said, blinking. But his mouth suddenly curved into a large smile as he cried out, "We won!" Cheers went up from all of the surrounding Digidestined as each went to find and congratulate their devolved partners. The leader ran up to Koromon who was laying on the ground panting. Picking him up, he squeezed the little digimon and started jumping around. "Alright! Great job Koromon, you did it!"

"Tai, could you please stop squeezing me so tight?" whined the pink digimon, wincing.

"Tai!" cried Davis who was now carrying DemiVeemon in his arms. The younger boy stood directly in front of him, looking overly excited. "Did ya see that? We creamed him! The way we showed up last minute and had Imperialdramon attack - "

"You did good, Davis," said Tai simply with a grin, cutting him off, deciding to not remind the other boy just who's plan it had been. But as Kari took that moment to run up to them, a tired Gatomon in her arms, Davis' eyes lit up even more - if that was indeed possible - as he called out to her.

"Kari! Weren't we awesome? We - "

"You did great, Davis," she said politely as she turned to her brother, smiling. "Great plan, Tai! Who would have thought that it was you who thought of it?" She couldn't help but tease him as some of his rash actions during battles in the past came to mind.

Tai looked as though he would have roughly folded his arms across his chest with a huff had he not had Koromon in them. Instead he simply made a slight scowl as he said "Hey, if I'm such a bad leader, how'd I get the job, huh?" Not being able to help himself, he grinned widely as he added, "At least it worked. And this time Piedmon's gone for good!"

"Unless of course you somehow screwed it up, again." Matt smirked who had walked up behind him, giving Tai a rather hard pat on the back, Tsunomon letting out a little giggle himself despite his cuts and bruises.

Not sure he could take abuse from both of them, not to mention the other Digidestined that were beginning to gather around him, he did the only thing he could. "Well, if he does come back, I'm not the one to blame." The older boy glanced at Davis who up until that point had been trying to find someone else to babble to.

"Huh? What?" stuttered Davis, trying to understand exactly what he was getting at. Chibimon giggled quietly at his partner's confused response.

Tai looked down at the boy, and smirked, "Well, it was you wasn't it that was just bragging about how you defeated Piedmon. So if he were to come back a third time, it'd be your fault, wouldn't it?"

"B-but he won't! We got him for good this time!" cried Davis, not appreciating the fact that the teasing was now being directed at him.

"Come to think of it, wasn't it you that got sucked into the hole in the first place?" added Yolei.

Davis just stood there with his mouth open, a distressed look on his face. "But - I - That's - "

The rest of the Digidestined and their partners burst out laughing as the younger boy sighed heavily and hung his head. Still laughing, Tai said, "Cheer up, Davis! One of us probably would have sooner or later, well, maybe. Let's just get home; it's gotta be getting pretty late by now."

"'Pretty late'?" Joe nearly shouted in disbelief, "Do you have any idea how mad my mom will be when I show up around two in the morning?"

"Well, Joe may be exaggerating a bit, but he's right," said Izzy, "My mom's probably getting pretty worried too."

Davis' eyes went wide and he blinked a few times before speaking. "Is it really that late?" When all he got were nods in return, he practically dropped his partner as he grabbed his head and moaned. "I am so dead! I just went out for a little while 'cause I was bored, and I had no idea I'd be out fighting evil digimon and saving the world and stuff so I said I'd be back soon, but when I get back so late who knows what they'll do to me? Maybe they'll lock me in my room for a week! Maybe they'll shave my head so I'll be too ashamed to go out in public! Or maybe they'll make me be Jun's slave so I'll have to wash her clothes, clean her room, organize her Matt pictures, paint her toenails..."

Having heard enough of his babbling for a lifetime, Tai sighed as he turned to leave, trying to surpress a laugh as Matt's face turned bright red from both exasperation and embarressment, Kari quickly following behind him. He had already had more happen to him in this one day than he had bargained for, and he was quite ready to go back to being bored. At that thought, he smirked.

'For a while, anyway.'

The End

A/N: Wow, has Joe said ANYTHING up until now? oO Oops... Ah well, he got his line, lol. I also realized after rereading some of the earlier chapters (since I was forgetting a few minor details like how late it was...) that the one time I refered to Davis' digimon in the In-Training form, I called him "Chibimon", which is his Japanese name. I probably did it because I really have a hard time calling him Demiveemon, so I decided to just leave it Chibimon. I figure everyone will know who I'm talking about anyway. Anyway, that's it! It's finally over! I can't believe I finished it... UH, I mean... heh... No, I always had plans to finish it, it's just that I am extremely slow and, well, that can sometimes lead to things going unfinished for a VERY LONG TIME. Like this fic, heh. Anyway, I hope you all liked it! Well, anyone that's read it, anyway, lol. This story may not have a lot of fans, but that's alright. I enjoyed writing it, even if my sis stopped reading. XD Not sure if I'll write anymore Digimon fics in the future, but it all depends on what kind of mood I'm in. I still have to post the rest of OGAG, but after that, no more fics... I have a Hikaru no Go one I started, but it was more just because... OH! I DO have another Digimon one I started! It's darker, though. Not a humor fic. Lots more angst, lol. But I just can't help it, after all, Matt IS my favorite character. So yes, perhaps I'll post again in the future, but unless I feel inspired, don't expect it to be anything like this one. Though I will admit, I had so much fun with Davis... He alone might be able to convince me to write more. XD

Only the future will tell...

Until then, I hope you enjoyed it, and please tell me what you thought of my little fic!


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